Creating an Editorial Calendar: 7 Essential Tips
Publications such as your blog can also benefit from the use of an editorial calendar, especially when you have multiple authors writing for a site. By regarding your blog as an online magazine, you can enjoy the benefits of editorial planning that traditional publications enjoy. First, your writers will know what content they need to provide and when they need to have it ready to submit. This makes sure that you always have something to post when the time comes. Advertisers also benefit from the ability to purchase advertising to coincide with specific features and articles that are relevant to their products. Furthermore, the stability gained by having the content of your blog planned in advance takes a lot of the worry out of blogging and gives your site a more professional and consistent feel.
Below you will find seven essential tips for creating an editorial calendar for your online publication or blog.
1. Topic selection: An editorial calendar can help you select and schedule the topics that you will publish on your blog. By planning your topics, you can keep your niche targeted and your writers, advertisers, and readers on a routine.
2. Style selection: Some bloggers like to schedule a certain type of post for publication as well as its topic. By scheduling the type of articles you post, you make sure your blog has variety and you broaden its appeal. The editorial calendar helps you create balance: for example, you may want to have a balance between opinion posts, product reviews, and tips and tricks tutorials.
3. Plan unique features: Special features take more time to prepare, so make sure you give your writers enough time on the schedule to get their work done. Special features also may interest more people, so take some time to publicize them well in advance so interested readers and advertisers can get on board.
4. Build in quality: As you implement your editorial calendar, keep quality in mind. You want to allow your writers enough time to brainstorm and to generate well thought out content that visitors will find useful and enjoyable. Your calendar will avoid those embarrassing gaps where nothing new appears on your blog for days or weeks at a time as well as those hastily thrown together pieces that tell your audience that come across as useless filler.
5. Decide the number of posts per week: Most bloggers need to have at least three posts per week to keep their audience and advertisers engaged. You have already decided the content and style of your posts, now put it on your calendar so that you always have a steady stream of content coming out on your blog.
6. Schedule as far in advance as possible: By extending your planning calendar a week or more into the future, you give yourself the wiggle room you need should something go wrong. This can help you avoid the panic that otherwise may result from a writer quitting or going on vacation because you have time to make other arrangements.
7. Manage multiple blogs: When you put an editorial calendar in place, you will experience a new found peace of mind. You, your writers, your advertisers, and your readers will soon operate as a well-oiled machine. With all the new planning skills you have developed, you can expand your horizons and start another publication in the free time you now have. This gives you the chance to increase your online exposure and income without any significant strain on your workload.
An editorial schedule is a tool used by most magazines and newspapers. This technique ensures a high degree of stability for a publication and maximizes the utilization of writers and advertisers while creating a superior experience for readers. You can do the same thing for your blog or online publication. By getting your writers on a schedule, defining what to write, how to write, and when to write it, your blog will take on a more professional and structured feel, something that will increase its appeal to readers and advertisers while freeing up your time to launch new projects. Take these seven tips for creating an editorial calendar and get started on yours today.
James Adams is a full time writer. I would like to thank James for this guest post and if any of you would like to get in touch with him, please send an email and I will get his email off to you.
Comments
Really great post JJ,
Scheduling posts in advance is one way I am planning to improve on, topic selection is another great thing to do, it helps add more value to one’s blog.
Thanks a lot for the great post,
-Onibalusi
Hi Onibalusi, Thanks so much for stopping by and leaving a comment, I appreciate your visit. I thought this was a “great guest post” and it was by a fellow website owner James Adams. He made some very valid tips that to tell the truth I really should be practicing myself. I think it’s important to have tools to help one out when it comes to posting or writing copy for anyone. Thanks again Onibalusi. jj
That be Nice post If you want to make your Blog very impressive and want to show in managed way its a right to add editorial calender
Ya I agree with you.I am also writing my post as draft,it always help to post regularly.Thanks jj for your comments,yes my entrecard account yet not reseted by administrator.
Hi JJ, these are some great tips! I have been struggling with writing content on all my blogs lately, and I think I will take one day and write a bunch of drafts so I have them all ready!
Great post!
great articles and lots of useful ideas. your tips will definitely help lots of bloggers.
Hi Vernette, Thanks so much for coming over to my blog appreciate it a lot. I just skipped over to see your blog and read your last post which was a great one. I’m glad that you enjoyed the post it is by a guest blogger and he does have some great tips here. Again thanks for your comment and hope you come over again. jj
Hi Kris, Thanks for stopping by my blog and leaving a comment. I love to have new readers to my site and enjoy going back to take a look at theirs. I’m glad you enjoyed the tips that are provided in this guest post as they are very useful. Hope you stop by again. To our success!! jj
Hi FreeMoneyMaker, So sorry I haven’t responded to your comment sooner, as I’ve been a little under the weather and unable to go online. I’m trying to do a little bit at a time. It is a great idea to write post up ahead of time and have them ready especially for times like this, when you’re not well! ha ha Thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment, always enjoy your comments. jj
I have been blogging for a few months now but dont seem to be getting a lot of traffic 34 i think to date, is there any way to get more people interested is it to do with content or the more content you publish. Or is it the same people coming back to read the new articles i write any help would be great thankyou
Nice tips and great information.keep sharing
JJ,,
Just wrote a small article. Take a look when u get a chance.
Thx
Inq
Hi Tapan, Thanks for stopping by the blog always good to hear from you, btw I’m glad you’re back to blogging. I did go over to read your post and left a comment. Please make sure you get back to MCB! jj
Hi Lee, Thanks for stopping by my blog and leaving a comment, I always like new readers. I will tell you the one thing that I think helps with traffic, of course their are many different ways to get traffic to ones blog. I believe that you should visit as many blogs as you can and leave a comment on as many as you can. I went over to your blog (or is it website?) are you changing info. periodically? The reason I asked is I didn’t see any place for one to leave a comment on any of your written material. Comments are very big in my opinion and you might want to put a place for people to leave a comment… try some of these suggestions and see if they help you any. I hope you will come back to my blog and leave comments and I will make sure to check yours out when I’m online. Good luck and to your success!! jj
Thanks for sharing these great tips! I definitely need to take these into consideration and get more organized.
Alexander,thanks so much for stopping by my blog MCB. I appreciate your comment, as I mention at the bottom of the post this was a guest host. I do agree that the tips provided were useful ones & I could also get more organized! Hope to see you stop by again, & I will be sure to visit your blog!! Thanks. jj
Good post, I will be sure to bookmark this post in my Furl account. Have an awesome day.
Your tips will definitely help lots of internet blogger.
I admire those writers who share the best of their knowledge in writing such articles. Keep up the good work and continue inspiring readers.Thank you so much.
All the 7 ways are awesome to create editorial calendar.
Really very informative post. I love to read alike more and more..
Your tips will definitely help me.
Any idea for outsourcing multiple blogs?
great tips for us! thx very much for shairng!
These essential tips rock.